Walking  with  Jesus

Walking with Jesus

Insights & Inspiration

Inspiration from

Matthew 7 

verses 13-14

The narrow gate vs. the wide gate.

We must choose between them.

The narrow gate 

is on the difficult path.

The wide gate

is on the broad, easy path.

This page highlights

Matthew 7:13-14

and

Luke 13:22-28

Many people

need to know or be reminded

that

following Jesus

leads

to the narrow gate

and the difficult path.

Matthew 7:13-14

NLT version 

says

“You can enter

God’s Kingdom

only

through the narrow gate.

The highway to hell is broad,

and

its gate is wide

for the

many

who choose that way. "

Matthew 7:13-14

NKJV version

says

“Enter by the narrow gate;

for

wide is the gate and broad is the way

that

leads to destruction,

and there are many who go in by it.

Because

narrow is the gate

and

difficult is the way

which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

-

Proverbs 4:14-15 NLT

" Don’t do as the wicked do, and

don’t follow

the path of evildoers.

Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way. 

   Turn away and keep moving."

When a person says in his heart,

"My way"

he or she is feeling drawn to the broad path.

There is

"God's way" and then there is "My way."

The Bible message

of

obeying God's Word

and

sincere repentance after sinning

is in 

opposition

to the sinful way of life

that the world follows.

The world opposes the things of God.

If you follow the world,

the world will be easier on you.

If you do NOT follow the world,

the world will exert pressure on you to conform

and sometimes the world will persecute you.

Let's remind ourselves that 

Walking with Jesus includes obedience.

The Word of God says,

" Do you not know

that

friendship

with the world

is

hostility toward God?

Therefore

whoever wants to be

a

friend of the world

makes himself an enemy of God. "

James 4:4 b NASB

We yield to God

or

we yield to the world.

And...

We resist God,

or

we resist the world.

You cannot follow Jesus and the culture

at the same time.

Jesus said,

"If you love me you will obey me."

John 14:15 and again in verse 23

The words of the Bible

offend

our sinful nature.

The fact that

there's a highway to hell

and

a narrow path to heaven

says a lot

about the anticipated traffic numbers.

-

It also indicates that

most of the people you see as you live each day

are not going to heaven.

-

People need to get serious about 

following Jesus with their whole heart.

When we think about

the narrow gate vs. the wide gate,

it directs our attention

to eternal truths

that will

motivate us

to point to Jesus

more often

when we are with

our family and with all people. 

God

teaches us

to make godly choices. 

Galatians 5:16-17

"Walk in the Spirit,

and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit,

and the Spirit against the flesh;

and these are

contrary to one another,

so that you do not do the things that you wish."

The flesh

refers to our natural sin tendencies.

Christians sometimes speak of 

being

"in the flesh"

when they are talking about some sin they did.

When you react to something

in the flesh,

you are reacting in a sinful way.

When you react to something

in the spirit,

you are reacting in a godly way.

We naturally want to sin.

God calls on Christians

to

"fight" our flesh every day.

Fight the good fight of Faith!

As 1 Timothy 6:11 b - 12  CJB

says

Pursue

righteousness, godliness,

faithfulness, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

¹² Fight the good fight of the faith,
take hold
of the eternal life
to which you were called
when you testified
so well 
to your faith before many witnesses.

_   _   _ 

We can avoid doing works of the flesh

by learning to stay

continually submitted

to the Holy Spirit

so that we allow Him to direct every aspect of our life.

And when we mess up and sin - 

we

ASK God to forgive us!

We will be

transformed by God

or

we will be

conformed to the world.

Walking with Jesus through the narrow gate

The book of Luke

also

talks about the narrow gate.

Luke 13:22-28

NKJV

says

And He [Jesus]

went through the cities and villages,

teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.

²³ Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them,

²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow gate,

for many,

I say to you,

will seek to enter and will not be able.

²⁵ When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying,

‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ 
and He will answer and say to you,
‘I do not know you, where you are from,’

²⁶ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’

²⁷ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from.

Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’

²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and
all the prophets in the kingdom of God,
and
yourselves thrust out.

1 John 3:3

in speaking about our relationship to Jesus

says...

And everyone

who has this hope

in Him

purifies himself,

just as He is pure.

Romans 6:11 AMP

Consider yourselves

to be dead to sin

[and your relationship to it broken],

but alive to God

[in unbroken fellowship with Him]

in Christ Jesus.

P R A Y E R

Dear Lord,

Today, I will focus on being

Alive In Christ

and

dead to sin.

Speak to me, Lord.

I will listen and yield to you in obedience.

I pray in the Life-Transforming Name of Jesus,

Amen

Copyright © 2015 Beth McLendon of Inspirational-Prayers.com

I'm going to

walk with Jesus!

After this page,

you might like to visit our related page

Matthew 7:21-23.

We also have a page on

Matthew 5:6 insights on hungering for righteousness.

Walking with Jesus was presented May 2025